As computers advance, integration of platforms and their components become a larger and more complex task. Designers of computer systems prefer platforms to be modular and upgradeable, so pieces of the platform may be updated without having to replace the whole system. In light of this industry model, there are countless add-in cards, components, and modules that are connected to a system at any given time.
Unfortunately, designers do not have the capacity to test every combination of components in a system. Therefore, it is not uncommon, upon booting a system, to run into an unconventional setup that was not anticipated in the test phase, which results in unpredictable behavior in the system. This system behavior, in many instances, leads to a system hang or an improperly configured platform.
Unfortunately, in a platform boot environment, unlike starting and operating system (OS), if the system hangs there currently is no process to recover the system. In fact, many times the user is left only with calling the manufacturer or carrying the system into a dealer for service.
Some systems attempt to recover from numerous hangs in the boot sequence, by resetting factory defaults. However, if a newly placed component, such as an add-in card or memory, is causing the system to hang, resetting the defaults will not change the result. Furthermore, the user is not able to gather any information about what is causing the system to crash, and will have to rely on a service call to fix the problem.